UNICEF warns of funding shortfall for Rohingya refugees

By Fatih Erel

ZURICH (AA) - UNICEF warned on Tuesday it could not continue helping Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh without “immediate additional funding”.

The UN's children’s charity said its resources were being outstripped by the needs of 582,000 Rohingya Muslim refugees now in Bangladesh, having fled their homes in Myanmar.

“As of today, UNICEF has received just seven percent of the $76 million required to provide emergency support to children over the next six months," the UN body said.

The UN needs $434 million for Rohingya refugees from September 2017 to February 2018 but only $106 million has been received from donor countries.

There will be a pledging conference in Geneva on Oct. 23.

The UN has documented mass gang rapes, killings -- including those of infants and young children -- brutal beatings, and disappearances committed by Myanmar’s security personnel.

Since Aug. 25, some 582,000 Rohingya have crossed from Myanmar's western state of Rakhine into Bangladesh, according to the UN.

In a report, UN investigators said such violations may have constituted crimes against humanity.